Behind The Mask
by Mauselet-AliceAsuka
Summary: Spike disappears almost every day without any explanation; this makes Aki really worried. As she wonders where her husband is, she gets into deep trouble. (CarnotaurusMan, looks like you aren't the only one who's bad at summaries.)


**Main inspiration and idea - ****TheCrazyRavenclaw**

—

**An AU where Max, Rex, and Zoe didn't find the stone plates or cards but were found by a mysterious man instead.**

**This takes place out of OoTaS and R!OoTaS (my other Dinosaur King fanfics) timelines!**

—

Over the course of a few months, strange things were happening around the world, dinosaurs appeared out of nowhere. Chaos has been caused. That's all citizens knew. The truth and story behind these events were hidden from them, all of them.

Aki Taylor wasn't bothered by that at all; she had her own worries. Her husband disappears very often lately without any explanation, making her really worried.

It was several hours after dinner. A long-married woman with shoulder-length brown hair sat down on a couch with a deep sigh. She was all alone; her son and his friend already slept in their rooms, her husband hasn't shown up for six hours by now.

She turned on the TV, switching mindlessly through the channels, news, horror films, romantic sitcoms, anime, documentaries, cute animals. She couldn't really focus on that.

After half an hour of doing the same thing again and again, Aki's loneliness and nervousness couldn't be held back. So many different and horrifying scenarios were running through her head at once, tormenting her. She quickly got up and searched for her phone, to make sure everything is okay. It was laying on a counter.

She called a number with a name 'Dino Lover (Spike)' and several hearts next to it.

No answer.

She gulped anxiously but tried again.

The phone was ringing for several minutes...

No answer.

"C' mon, Spike," she whispered and tried once more. "No one is available to answer your call," was the only response she got. She bit her lip.

"What's wrong?" She was worried sick. Why isn't he answering? Why would he ignore her like that? Before she started panicking, she called someone who'd possibly know where her husband is.

A monotone female voice sounded from the other side of the phone, "Hello, Aki?"

"Reese!" Aki gasped softly at a little bit of hope, "have...? He'snowheretobefound. Hedoesn'tanswerhisphone!" She slipped out everything on her mind at once.

"Whoa, whoa. Slow down," Reese told her, "I can't make out what you're saying."

"Sorry..." She took a deep breath and started again. "Do...Do you have any idea where Spike could be?" she asked rather unsurely, "he doesn't answer the phone."

Her friend's reply, unfortunately, didn't help her at all. "No clue."

"What...?" The brunette covered her mouth slightly with her free hand. "Oh, no..."

"I'm already at home, so I'm not sure, but he might be at the D-lab."

"Maybe..." she murmured, her voice was still shaky from fear.

"I bet he's fine," Reese assured her, "no need to worry."

"Thank you, Reese. Bye..."

"Bye."

Aki ended the call and sighed once again. Why isn't he answering? Did something happen to him?

Many questions and more and more horrifying scenarios infected her mind. He could be hurt or kidnapped.

She started shaking in fear; her imagination was let loose. As all possible scenes projected in her brain one worse than the other, she didn't let one of them come to her mind. Even thinking about it breaks her heart. She shakes her head.

"That would never happen; he wouldn't do that..." But then again he leaves like this for several weeks now, getting lost for hours and coming back as nothing happened.

Could he be visiting someone?

Could he be cheating-"No!" Aki snapped at herself, "he wouldn't do that...he probably does adore other women, no strange for a man of his age, but he would never go any further than looking. Right...?"

She shook her head, slapping her cheeks slightly. "Stop, stop, stop, stop!" She held herself from over thinking the situation. "He's probably just busy."

She decided to listen to Reese. She's going to the D-lab to make sure if Spike's there and is okay.

She took her purse, putting keys, cell phone and some other stuff in and went outside.

—

The sun was slowly setting down as she walked up to the hill to the laboratory. This was the only place she could think of, he must be there because she doesn't know what she'd do if he wasn't.

Once she got there, worries took over her body as she started shaking. He wasn't there.

She tried to call him again, but with the same result as before.

What could have happened?

He could still be on the way from here. She hurried back in the city.

—

Despite the situation, she wasn't able to keep running all the way back. She got tired eventually. She was panting as she walked through the empty night city. From time to time she heard drunk people yelling in the distance; a few cars passed by every ten minutes. She walked all alone with her shadow, having an unsettling feeling about her stroll.

Suddenly, she ran into something she'd never expect, a dinosaur. It came from around a corner of a building.

She froze in place, staring at the dinosaur. She knew they appear around the world, but she's never seen the real one.

What should she do? Is she going to be eaten by this creature? Should she run? Should she not move?

Panicking inside, she gulped scaredly. As the green four leg dinosaur with a horn on its nose approached her she fainted.

The next thing she knows is that she was laying on the cold ground.

"Hey, can you hear me?" a male voice asked her, "are you okay? Please, wake up."

Aki slowly opened her eyes, seeing a brunette-beard man with a helmet with spikes on it and a mask around his eyes. "Huh?"

A smile formed on his face when he saw she's awake. "You're okay!"

"I guess..." she murmured, feeling uncomfortable with a stranger leaning over her. He reached his hand to her. She was looking at him suspiciously but took it. He helped her stand up.

She noticed the same dinosaur from before standing behind the man and she gasped, backing away.

"Don't worry; he won't hurt you," the man reassured her, "I'm sorry Blitz scared you before."

"Blitz?"

"Yeah! He's a Styracosaurus. Do want to pat him?" he asked too much of her.

"I...I gotta go...!" she said and quickly headed away. She legs carried away from the stranger as fast as they could. She was scared of him hurting her or using the dinosaur to do so.

She slowed down eventually when she felt much safer but that was a fake feeling. She didn't realize soon enough that somebody followed her.

She felt a cold metal press against the back of her head. She stopped.

"Don't try anything unless you wanna get hurt," an unknown deep voice told her.

She turned her head slowly behind her, seeing a man pointing a gun right at her head.

_"Can today be any worse?" _she asked herself.

The man grinned devilishly. "A pretty face...I might do more than take your money, sweetheart~"

_"Yes, it can!"_

She didn't dare to move. He could do anything to her. Her breath got faster as she waited for him to do what he wanted. One bad move would definitely get her killed.

"Step back!" a familiar male voice yelled. The masked man was standing on a fire staircase of one of the buildings, swinging a lasso around. Impossible to explain, but he managed to get his legs tied up together. "Agh! Not again!"

The person with a gun pointed it at him. "Look, cowboy, I'd stay out of this if I were you."

The masked man sweat-dropped, looking around in panic and trying to figure out a plan.

Aki had her chance to escape although she didn't take it. Her concern about the stranger she met before and fear of the man with a gun kept her standing, holding her hands together.

A lightbulb lit up above the masked man's head. He tied the other end of the first rope to the railing of the stairs. Then he pulled out another lasso, this time successfully hitting the target. As the rope wrapped around him, the other man dropped the gun. The masked man grabbed the other end of the lasso tightly and jumped down.

Aki gasped.

The masked man was hanging by the legs upside down, holding the rope that now pulled the other man up. The masked man tied the end of the rope to the stairs nearest to the ground as the rob was hanging up.

"Did he hurt you?" the masked man asked Aki, holding his helmet so it doesn't fall off.

She shook her head. "Thank you."

"You're welcome!" He grinned. "I can't let a damsel in distress in trouble, can I?"

"Who are you?" she wondered.

"Call me Dinoman." The lasso around his legs suddenly untied and he hit the ground. "Aagh!"

"Are you okay?!" she worried.

"I'm...fine..." He stood up, rubbing the back of his head. "I'm so glad he didn't do anything to you, Ak-ma'am!"

"I'm alright only thanks to you..." She smiled at him. He blushed. She was even more beautiful with the smile on her face.

"I-I...I had to..." he stuttered, "you're too pretty to be harmed."

Her cheeks turned pink a little.

"I...I mean-!"

"I'm so thankful for your help. Thank you...thank you so much."

He touched her shoulders. "There's no need to thank me. I just did what any good person would do."

"You're my savior," as she kept praising him, he started at her and slowly leaned in. Something in his head told him that this was a good idea.

He was so close to her, almost kissing her when her purple eyes widened and she quickly pulled away, blushing.

"No, I can't let you do that," Aki said.

"Huh?"

"I'm married and I'd never do anything like this... I love him so much; kissing another man would be a horrible betrayal. I can't do that to him."

Dinoman locked his eyes on her beautiful lips, listening to every compliment she said about her husband. His face was red. Cupid's arrow hit his heart as he kept his eyes on her.

"He must be a lucky man to have such a lovely and loyal wife," he told her.

"Sure, but I'm even luckier to have him."

"He must be worried about you. Why are you even out so late by yourself?" he asked her.

"I'm looking for my husband," she replied. He frowned nervously. "He isn't answering his phone and isn't at work either."

"H-he might be at home, w-waiting for you," he suggested.

"Maybe..."

"I'll go with you! After what that guy tried, I don't think it's a good idea that you go by yourself."

"Okay." She nodded without any objections.

—

They were soon at the place.

"Thank-" "Don't," he interrupted her, "there's no need to thank me. You should hurry inside."

She nodded and walked inside the house. "Thank you." She closed the door and sighed, hoping that her husband was actually home and she just missed him by a few minutes.

She was standing under the stairs, thinking about what just happened. She was happy she stopped the man from kissing her because she wouldn't forgive herself.

She slowly walked upstairs and headed into the bedroom.

Once she opened the door a huge weight fell off her shoulders. Spike was sitting on the bed, waiting for her. He got up, smiling. "Aki!"

She burst into tears and rushed to him, hugging him tightly. "Spike! Where...where have you been?"

"I was about to ask you the same thing."

"...I've been looking for you. Why wouldn't you answer the phone? I was so scared!" She was shaking.

"I'm sorry. That's never been my intention. You know me, I always lose my phone, plus it ran out of battery," he explained, hugging her back, "what were you thinking? Going out so late. You could have got hurt."

"I was worried about you... But you're right; I almost got hurt."

"Huh?"

"A guy tried to rob me..."

Spike didn't seem to be surprised or too concerned, seeing that she's alright. He brushed her hair from her face and cupped her cheek; he does that all the time. "I'm so glad he didn't hurt you."

"I'm only okay thanks a man called Dinoman. He saved me and...he tried to kiss me," Aki told him honestly, "I pulled away immediately, telling him about you."

She continued talking but he wasn't listening anymore. He was amazed by her honesty; she told him everything and he wasn't even able to pull up a good lie. He was mad at himself for causing her almost getting hurt, he clenched his fist.

She noticed that. "Spike, is something wrong?"

He snapped out of his thoughts. "Huh? N-no..." He stroked her cheek. "Let's go to bed." She nodded. They got changed and laid in the bed.

He wrapped his arm around her, falling asleep. She was looking at him, smiling. She then closed her eyes and fell asleep as well.

Two or so hours later, she heard knocking on the window. She woke up but kept her eyes closed. She was trembling slightly in fear.

What kind of creep could be on their balcony at this hour?

_"Please, go away...Go away whoever you are..." _She sobbing quietly, scared to death. _"Spike, please, scare them away... Spike..." _She then realized that her husband's arm wasn't around her anymore. She gasped and quickly opened her eyes. Spike wasn't lying next to her which scared her even more.

As another knock sounded through the room, she jerked, sat up and glanced at the window, backing away on the bed. She stopped when she recognized the person on the balcony. It was a man with a spiked helmet, smiling. A miniature of a dinosaur she met that night.

"Dinoman?"

She got off the bed and walked over to the glass door.

"I'm sorry I scared you," he apologized.

"What are you doing here?" she asked him, her voice shaking.

"I don't even know," he admitted, rubbing the back of his head, "I just wanted to see you again. And Blitz wanted to apologize to you."

"Blitz?" she wondered and looked down as the chibi Styracosaurus nuzzled her leg. She cautiously stroked his back, making him roar happily.

"Dinoman, what should I do?"

"Huh? What do you mean?"

Aki looked back at the bed. "My husband leaves for several hours every day recently. And now he's also gone without a single word," she murmured sadly, "do you think he doesn't want to be around me anymore?"

He looked at her in absolute shock. "You can't be serious..." He grabbed her shoulders.

She glanced at him confusedly.

"I bet he'd never even think about that! You're together for years! You have a kid together. He loves you and respects you too much to hurt you like that! He'd never do that to you."

He brushed her hair away from her face gently and cupped her cheek. She blushed and that's when she felt something on his finger hidden under the glove. She knew that feeling. It was a ring on his finger.

She closed her eyes.

That feeling...

She feels the same every time Spike cups her cheek; the same gentleness, the same love in that touch, the ring under the glove. His words and passion to convince her about her husband's loyalty.

She opened her eyes slowly and stroked Dinoman's cheeks, making him blush. She then slipped his glove off his hand, revealing a wedding ring on his finger. Gasping, she took his hand in hers where she had her ring on. They were identical. She sighed happily.

"Is something wrong?" he asked her.

She shook her head. She reached her arms to his head and started taking his helmet and mask off.

"Wait-!" he tried to stop her, but it was too late. The helmet and mask were off his head, revealing a face she knew very well. His purple eyes, eyes of her husband stared at her in surprise.

"How could I be so blind?" Aki asked herself.

Spike grinned at her. "A lot of people were fooled by this. I'm glad you figured it out."

She smiled back. "So am I, but you didn't have to be a creep and knocking on the window in the middle of the night."

"Sorry about that..."

"So, this is what you've been doing this whole time?" she asked him.

"Yeah... It's a long story," he replied, scratching his cheek.

She pecked his lips. "Maybe you can tell it to me tonight."

"I'd love that!" He wrapped his arm around her shoulders, she leaned against him and they headed to the bed, Blitz was following them.

"Thank you for saving me."

"C' mon, didn't I demand no thanking?"

"You did, but you're my hero, Spike." He blushed deep red as he heard that. "I love you."

He smiled at her warmly and kissed her head. "I love you too, Aki."

—

**Welp, this covers my first one-shot. I really hope you liked it! You should mostly thank TheCrazyRavenclaw for giving me the idea of Aki and Dinoman's almost kiss.**

**I already have an idea for another one-shot, so don't worry!**


End file.
